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Many of the proposed sites are disused factories, quarries or hospitals. Towns on the list include Colchester, Chelmsford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Blackpool, Carlisle, Kidderminster and Sandbach, Cheshire.

There are 11 proposed sites in Stoke-on-Trent alone. One identified site is at one of the Government's proposed "eco town" developments near Lichfield, Staffordshire.

John Baron, Conservative MP for Billericay, who had also demanded the release of the list, said residents living close to the sites would be "deeply concerned".

"The Government has had to be brought kicking and screaming to the point where it has actually released the information," he said.

"Thousands of residents in the areas near to these sites are going to be deeply concerned that their homes could soon by next door to these huge prisons.

"They will also want to know why these sites were kept secret for so long, and why they were never consulted over the plans to build the prisons in their area in the first place."

Andrew Neilson, assistant director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, criticised the plans for "supersized" prisons as an alternative to the much-criticised Titans.

He said: "The fact that 76 sites have already been earmarked – with little or no consultation – will be of great concern to thousands of people."

The Ministry of Justice said the decision to drop the Titan programme came as a result of "consulting widely and listening to all views", and denied it was linked to spending constraints.

It would not confirm whether it was still considering the 76 sites for its new prison proposals.

Titan prisons were proposed following a Whitehall review of prison overcrowding led by Lord Carter of Coles in December 2007.

The programme is being seen as the first high-profile casualty of the post-budget Whitehall spending squeeze.

Lord Carter said an extra 10,500 prison places were needed to house a prison population in England and Wales which is projected to rise to 96,000 by 2014.